Billionaire Nirmal Jain is planning to double assets at his wealth management firm in two years and triple his frontline adviser base as India's rich get richer and competition for their money intensifies. According to reports from The Economic Times and Bloomberg News, IIFL Capital Services Ltd.'s wealth book of about ₹600 billion ($6.6 billion) will expand 80% to 100% over the next 24 months. To power this growth, the company has hired about 60 relationship managers in the last 18 months and plans to add 120 more, representing a sharp ramp-up in a market where seasoned advisers are hard to find. As Jain told Bloomberg News in Mumbai, the firm is actively hiring relationship managers to meet this demand as competition for affluent clients intensifies across the financial sector.
As reported by The Economic Times and Bloomberg News, Jain acknowledged that "It's not easy" when it comes to hiring talent, with compensation levels surging amid talent poaching across the industry. The firm will primarily add staff from foreign banks and local wealth management firms, even as rivals offer steep pay increases to lure top advisers. Jain founded his flagship Mumbai-based IIFL Group and grew it into a financial services behemoth, comprising a shadow bank, a retail and institutional broking firm and a discount brokerage arm. The three-decade-old group has propelled Jain and his wife Madhu's net worth to $1.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
According to The Economic Times and Bloomberg News, India has become one of the world's fastest-growing wealth markets, driven by a booming startup ecosystem, rising equity participation and a steady pipeline of first-generation entrepreneurs. The country has more than 85,000 high-net-worth individuals with $1 million or more, putting it fourth behind the US, China and Japan. India now has 191 billionaires, 26 of them created within the past year – up from just seven in 2019, as reported by Knight Frank. Domestic mutual fund inflows through systematic investment plans, or SIPs, have surged in recent years, broadening retail exposure to equities and creating a larger pool of affluent investors seeking advisory services.
As reported by The Economic Times and Bloomberg News, Jain's businesses have received strong backing from billionaire Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., which is the biggest shareholder in both IIFL Capital Services and the shadow banking arm IIFL Finance Ltd. The Toronto-based investment firm is also in advanced talks with the India government to buy a majority stake in IDBI Bank Ltd. Jain said product innovation is key to capture rising demand for wealth management, with IIFL Capital expanding offerings in private equity, portfolio management services, overseas investments, defense-sector exposure and pre-IPO opportunities. The firm is also a major stakeholder in 5Paisa Capital Ltd., the discount brokerage unit.
According to The Economic Times and Bloomberg News, the rapid accumulation of wealth in India has encouraged banks from HSBC Holdings Plc to Standard Chartered Plc to rapidly expand their wealth business. Meanwhile, Indian billionaire Uday Kotak's private bank is adding thousands of clients, while local wealth manager 360 One WAM Ltd. struck a deal with UBS Group AG in April last year. Jain, who was an early backer of 360 One and remains a shareholder, cautioned against policies that penalize success, stating that "there are people who take risks, create wealth and generate jobs because they risk their capital and work very hard". He added that India's long-term growth depends on striking the balance of encouraging risk capital and innovation, while making essential services accessible.
